Cleansing A New Home – 5 Ways To Build Positive Energy

Cleansing a new home or working on the energy of your current space? Nico shares tips, from crystals to plantwork and use of salt.

Since the day I moved away from home to go to university, I had one goal in mind (well, two, technically, I guess): Living on my own, after graduation.

I wanted to graduate from school, and be able to support myself in my own apartment. No roommates, no friend/family discounted rent, no one else to be responsible for except for myself.

I made resolutions every year. I put up with less-than-ideal roommates. I scrounged to make enough money to both pay rent and eat, and finally, finally, finally, my time has come.

With my new apartment decided, application filled out, deposit paid for, gut-feeling satisfied, I only have one more thing to worry about, other than the actual moving part: making the place mine. And I don’t mean by hanging up posters of my favorite movies, hanging pictures of my friends and family, and filling the fridge with chocolate cake and cheap wine. No, what I mean is creating an atmosphere and an environment that uplifts me in every way it can. Although chocolate cake and cheap wine will certainly still play a role.

I’m talking about the spirit of a place. The aura, the movement of energy and the constant invitation of good, positive energy. After doing a bunch of research, I think I’ve found a couple of ways. Should you be feeling like you’re being weighed down by the world, consider implementing a few of these suggestions yourself.

1. Cleansing Rituals

There are probably a hundred different ways to cleanse your home of pre-existing negativity (and protect from it for the future). Rather than going into each one, let’s take a look at a few in particular.

Smoke cleansing with dried herbs

No doubt you’ve hearding of smudging. Specific to the rituals of some Native American tribes, one key intent behind burning smudge sticks is to drive out negative energies. One of the elements of smudging involves cleansing a space with the smoke of a burning bundle of dried white sage.

There are many other herbs you can burn apart from sage to cleanse your home. For instance, you can waft the smoke lit wands of dried rosemary or lavender in every nook and cranny of your home – every corner, every shadow – in order to purify that space. It can give you the best chance at a clean start somewhere new.

Cleansing your home with herb smoke bundles can be performed at regular intervals throughout the year, or even just when the energy in your home is feeling a little heavier than it should.

Salting

Whether you choose to spread the salt loosely or place bowls of coarse sea salt throughout your home, salt is known to absorb and hold onto negative and unwanted energies until you toss them out into the yard where they belong. You can place bowls of salt in corners, on the table, under your bed and wherever you find stagnant energy!

Another method of spreading salt energies throughout your environment is by mixing the salt with water, and using that solution to clean your tables, windowsills, bathroom, and anywhere that needs a little pick-me-up. It’s also great for bath time, and pulling negative energies from your body.

Bell Ringing

The Feng Shui act of ringing a small bell (or clapping your hands if a bell isn’t within reach), into every corner of your home is intended to break up negativity so it’ll become small enough to escape through the windows. Combine with the sound of wind chimes, and the sparkling of crystals in your windows, and soon your clumps of negativity should be whisked away. Using sound and percussion to cleanse an area is done the world over, in fact English folklore has it that church bells chased bad fairies away!

2. Cleansing With Crystals

Crystals are an entire world in themselves. They require much more care than simply plopping them into an accent bowl on your counter.

Like anything else, though, different crystals tend to harbour different energies, and you should decide which to bring into your home based on the energy you seek.

Here are a few key things to remember:

Crystals need to be cleansed, just the same as your home.

Much of a crystal’s power comes from you, and how you yourself perceive its abilities. Use your intuition in choosing crystals more than you would a list on the internet.

Crystals can becombined with living plants in order to magnify their energies – but we’ll talk about that later.

3. Furniture Feng Shui

Feng Shui doesn’t require a huge interior design bill in order to be achieved. While yes, some furniture styles tend to be more Feng Shui friendly, any room containing any furniture can be rearranged in order to best invigorate the flow of energy.

There are dozens of aspects to Feng-Shui, and it might take me a novel to go through them all. Mostly, though, Feng Shui is about this: controlling your living space, without it seeming like a chore. Without being constantly reminded of it, allowing the air and the energy in your home and individual bedrooms to flow naturally with that of the earth.

Organization and flow of movement: Walking through the rooms in your home should all feel natural and effortless, not like you’re dodging table legs and stubbed toes.

Living plants/other good energies throughout the home: Living plants contribute to cleaner air, and also return your mind to thoughts of nature, of being outdoors, in a place of limited stress.

Reconnecting with nature, rather than technology: Similar to the inclusion of living plants, particularly in the bedroom, you should avoid any gaudy pieces of technology. First and foremost, a bedroom TV is a big no-no by Feng Shui reckoning. If you must have one, you can at least cover it somehow, so that the monitor isn’t visible when it’s not in use.

4. Living Plants

Similar to the “rules” of crystals, the “meaning” of living plants in the home are not set in stone, even though guides exist online. Follow your own intuition and choose plants that will cater to you and your own energy, before you try and force it based on guidelines written by someone else.

However, the guidelines are a good starting point, of course. They certainly do exist for a reason!

5. Constant Positive Visuals

This aspect may seem to be less based in rituals and spirit energies, but that only depends on how you look at it. If you trust your gut when choosing your in-home crystals, plants, etc., then thinking about the energy your everyday DIY and memorabilia items will be no different. It’s all about good vibes and the power you give to objects.

Since everything is designed to cleanse your home of negative energy, why would those items that remind you of happy times and good feelings be any less powerful or potent than those you can buy online or in the store?

It’s been said that DIY is good for the soul. That doesn’t mean you’re left with only the option of hot-glue macaroni picture frames and new cloth pillowcases (after all, whatever happened to the Feng Shui “minimalism” I was talking up earlier?).

As a matter of fact, DIY extends far past anything you can find on Pinterest. Even quick updates in your home decor can give you same sense of achievement. With one of the elements of both Feng Shui and home cleansing revolving around living in a physically clean environment, what better way to achieve that than by the sweat off your own back?